He plans to reach out to state and local party officials as well as voters before deciding.

"I want to see what the reaction is," Pearson said. "So far it has been a positive reaction."

Dodd is the Senate Banking Committee chairman. The five-term lawmaker has seen his popularity slip amid the financial meltdown and in the wake of his failed 2008 presidential campaign.

Pearson says he's unhappy with how Dodd has handled the economic crisis and he wants to give Democrats a choice.

Dodd's reliance on fundraising from Wall Street and other financial interests he oversees as chairman of the banking panel is troubling, Pearson said.

"I see politicians of Chris Dodd's ilk continually insinuating themselves on the public scene -- in Dodd's case propped up by the very interests he's supposed to keep an eye on. To me, that's distasteful." said Pearson. "Dodd has become the poster child for meaningful, underline 'meaningful,' campaign finance reform."

Dodd's campaign manager, Jay Howser, said the senator's priority is getting the battered economy back on track.

A recent Quinnipiac University survey found Dodd's approval rating at a career low, with only one in three respondents approving of his job performance.

Dodd has slipped for several reasons: his role in writing a bill that protected bonuses for executives at bailed-out insurer American International Group Inc.; his initial refusal to release documents about his two controversial mortgages with Countrywide Financial Corp.; and his financing of a vacation cottage in Ireland. Dodd drew criticism in his home state for moving his family to Iowa before the presidential caucuses there.

"I am going to try to stay away form the negativity as much as possible," Pearson said. "His personal actions speak for themselves."

Pearson said that if he runs, he would make the financial crisis his focus.

"What I'd like to talk about is getting out of this mess, better ideas for getting out of this mess," he said.

The state's other senator, Joe Lieberman, was toppled in a primary challenge three years ago by Ned Lamont. Lieberman left the Democratic party and was re-elected in 2006 as an independent.

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